Philippines urged to take stand vs Japanese plan to dump Fukushima wastewater in Pacific Ocean

PHILIPPINE environmental activists have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to take a stand on Japan’s plan to dump wastewater from its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the Pacific Ocean.

“The Philippines has been silent because of the number of official development assistance (ODA) projects the Japanese have provided to the Philippines,” Rodolfo B. Javellana, Jr., president of the United Filipino Consumers and Commuters, told a forum on Monday.

Japan, which plans to dump more than a million tons of treated wastewater containing a radioactive isotope called tritium and possibly other radioactive traces in the ocean, claims it is safe.

The treated nuclear wastewater was used to cool damaged reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was struck by an earthquake more than a decade ago.

Its neighbors and other experts have said it poses an environmental threat that will last generations and could affect ecosystems all the way to North America.

Veronica “Derek” Cabe, coordinator of the Nuclear and Coal-Free Bataan Movement, told the Pandesal Forum Japan’s plan is a “threat to humankind and the environment.”

“These dangerous radioactive materials would contaminate the marine ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean and could potentially poison our source of food,” she added.

Ronnel S. Arambulo, national spokesman of fishers’ group Pamalakaya, said it would tie up with fisherfolk from countries in opposing Japan’s planned water release.

Fishing unions in the Pacific region have opposed the plan, citing impacts on their livelihood. China, South Korea and Taiwan have also raised concerns.

In March 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami disabled the power supply and overwhelmed cooling systems at the Fukushima power plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Fukushima Daiichi’s plant operator, is losing space to store water used to cool the reactors after the 2011 disaster.

Japan’s nuclear regulators last year approved a plan to dump the treated water in the Pacific Ocean.

The Embassy of Japan in Manila said the treated water is not contaminated. “The advanced liquid processing system-treated water will be discharged into the ocean in accordance with international standards and guidelines, and will be sufficiently safe for humans and the environment,” it said in an e-mailed reply to questions.

It added that the effects of the emissions would be “extremely small compared with the effects of natural radiation.”  

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said the plan meets international standards and is not harmful to the environment.

“Japan has been providing careful explanations based on scientific evidence to the international community with a high level of transparency, while receiving reviews by the IAEA, and has been disseminating information [on the matter],” the embassy added.

DFA did not reply to an e-mail seeking comment. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz